New Beginnings (Kyro)
by SithRoyalty
Summary: First fanfiction ever so don't eat me please. Post X3. Kitty Pryde desperately misses the boy she loved, the one who had left her for the Brotherhood ten months previous. When she runs in to him during the battle on Alcatraz, she begs him to come back. And when John wakes up with the realization that his side lost, he returns to the last place he's ever wanted to go.
1. Chapter 1

The dead were everywhere. Ms. Grey's hair was fire on the sunrise as she died in Logan's arms. As John opened his eyes, the sky was a crimson and orange. He inhaled, then rolled over, coughing and wheezing. Dust and ash covered his surroundings, and him, from head to toe.

Sitting up slightly onto his elbows, he blinked dirt away from his eyes, and looked around. A few small fires were still going. And the bodies. The bodies were everywhere. X-Men, members of the Brotherhood. All covered with the same layer of ash that he was coated with. He felt dizzy, and nausea rolled over him.

John swallowed it down. He was Pyro. He wouldn't puke at the sight of some dead people. He had killed before, at Magneto's side.

There were people he had known for years in this fight though. Logan. Storm. Jubilee, Colossus, and Bobby…he sneered at the last one. Bobby was the reason he had been out of commission for the majority of the fight.

As much as he hated to admit it, Bobby was most likely the reason he was currently alive instead of actually dead. John didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to be in Iceman's debt. He didn't owe the iceblock anything.

He had to get out of here. The humans would be here soon, to clean up the remains of Alcatraz Island and the ruined bridge. Magneto had certainly done a number on the city. Briefly he wondered why Magneto hadn't found him after the fight was over. Then he laughed out loud. It was Magneto. If it had been between his own survival and finding Pyro, the choice was obvious.

John rolled over onto his knees, carefully avoiding the many needles and capsules on the ground from the cure being shot into the fray by the humans. Most were empty, but he couldn't chance it.

There was one person he was desperate to know the fate of, but he refused to concentrate on it until he was out of this place. She was a survivor, like him. They had met two years before at Xavier's school, and had been nearly inseparable, despite having famous fights and arguments all over the school.

She had been in the fight. He didn't know why. She was too young, too fragile. It infuriated him that his old instructors had let her come along. He was sure that she would be okay, but then she had disappeared into the building, with Jauggernaut on her heels. He thought his heart might've stopped in that moment, but at that point Bobby had come up to him.

He had made it to his feet then, wiping dust off of his black pants, then rolling his eyes at his own idiocy. He was covered in the stuff. Now that he was up, he had to figure out where to go.

Back to the Brotherhood hideout? No. They had left him, and he honestly doubted that they had looked for him. Besides, he didn't know who was still left, and if something had happened to Magneto, and some other idiot was in charge, he couldn't handle staying there.

The Institute? John grimaced. Going back to his old life? He could never do that. He had blown up buildings, killed people, and done horrible things – not always just because of Magneto's orders. He wasn't particularly accepted when he was first at the school, as he was volatile, sarcastic, and angry, and he certainly wouldn't be if he came back.

He wanted to see her though. Needed to see her. He had spoken with her very momentarily during the battle. They had knocked into each other on the far side of a half crumbled down wall. She had immediately recognized him, but punched him across his jaw anyway, before taking a step back.

_"J-Johnny?"_

_John regained his footing, and stared back at Kitty. He had seen her when she and the other X-Men had first landed, but they had been far away from each other, and he doubted she had seen him. _

_He drank her in, staring at her. For the first time in over three months, he was but a few feet away from her. Dried blood crusted on a slice across her left cheek, and her brown hair had halfway fallen out of what John suspected had been a pretty messy bun in the first place. She had the same brown eyes, although they were wide with nervousness and shock at the moment._

_"Nice pink accent." He said, nodding to her official X-Men uniform. _

_She bit her lip. "What're you doing here John?"_

_John laughed, the sound coming out harsher than he had meant it to. Kitty didn't flinch. "I'm the bad guy now, remember? I abandoned all of you and joined Magneto." His eyes burned into hers. "I know you've seen it on the news Kitty."_

_She looked reproachful, and it reminded him of the way she used to look at him when he would respond sarcastically to a teacher in training, or refuse to do his math homework. _

_"You almost killed Rogue lighting that building afire, you know!"_

_John hadn't known, but he shrugged anyway. "You do realize I ended up in the hospital four times because of her when I was rooming with Bobby. I can only feel so bad about it."_

_Kitty's anger faded. "Johnny, what happened to you?" she asked quietly in between explosions in the background. She was trembling, John could see it._

_He shook his head. "I never said I was a good person Kit. In fact, I told you I wasn't hero material. I don't know what to tell you."_

_A tear slipped down her cheek. "So you just had to go and prove it then?" _

_In one movement John glanced around, then pulled her into his arms. She fought him for a few seconds, then clung to him tightly. He could feel her shaking with tears in his embrace, and guilt flowed through him. He hadn't spoken to her to tell her he was leaving, and he didn't contact her afterwards. The first she had seen of him was on a wanted poster on TV, showing that he had joined the Brotherhood. _

_It didn't seem to be long enough, but John heard an explosion just a few yards from them, and pulled away slowly. She had calmed down, and when she looked up at him, her eyes were clear, although tears had tracked lines through the dirt and dust on her cheeks._

_"John, after this is over, please come back to the Institute. It'll be hard, I know. But I know you're better than this. And I need you to come back."_

_He didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't refuse her either. "I'll try Kitty." He replied. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. The sounds of fighting were growing closer. "Be safe. Go."_

_"Shadowcat! Where are you?" A male voice called out. Kitty looked up at John, and then she was gone. John turned, and blasted a wave of fire and heat onto the soldier who had come around the wall, gun full of cures pointed and ready._

It came down to two choices then. Keep his promise to Kitty Pryde and attempt to go back to the Institute…or pretend that he had been killed in the battle, and slip away into society.

But first he had to get off this damned island.

**oOoOoOo**

* * *

><p>"When will she wake up? Shouldn't she be awake by now? It's been a week already." A frantic voice reached the girl's ears. She tried to raise her eyelids, only to find that she couldn't. It was too difficult. What she really wanted was to peacefully drift back off into the white blanket of sleep.<p>

The voices continued, nearby and to the left of her. "Jubilee, we don't know how its affected her. Besides, she was injured getting Leech out. Give it time." That was Storm's voice, Kitty recognized it even through her sleepy blur.

"Storm, is it true that Rogue's going to come back?"

Storm sighed, and Kitty could almost imagine her second favorite teacher crossing her arms over her chest. But Kitty was confused. Rogue – no, Marie – had went and gotten the cure. She wasn't a mutant anymore.

"Yes, very soon. Her powers are coming back to her at an exceptional rate. Only two other mutants we've seen have regained their powers after being Cured. We're still not sure why it's working on some of us more permanently than others."

"But then there's hope that Kitty might get hers back!" Jubilee exclaimed.

"Yes, she may."

Kitty's blood froze over. _Might get mine back? Does that mean? No. Oh no no no._

"Perhaps you'd like to include Miss Pryde in this conversation, since she's been awake for the past few minutes." This was a new voice, painfully familiar, one she never expected to hear again. _It's impossible. He's dead._ Kitty told herself, and she could feel her body stiffen. This was all too much.

_Open your eyes Kitty._ Her eyes opened slowly, without her even thinking about it. This were blurry for a moment, but quickly cleared up.

Jubilee stood in front of her, inky black hair streaked with the familiar bubble gum pink she liked best, worry across her normally excitable features. Storm stood next to her, arms crossed just as Kitty had imagined her. And then she took in Professor Xavier. Alive. In his wheelchair. Almost like none of it had ever happened.

Kitty did her best to swallow back tears. Xavier smiled at her reassuringly, then turned to the other two. "Would you mind leaving us for a moment or two?"

Storm nodded, and left the room, flashing a small smile at Kitty while Jubilee trailed mournfully behind her. Professor Xavier wheeled himself closer to Kitty's bedside.

"Kitty. How are you feeling?"

Kitty struggled to sit up fully, attempting to run a hand half heartedly through her tangled hair. "How are you even alive Professor?" There was a note of hysteria in her voice that she had unsuccessfully tried to swallow down.

They spoke for an hour or so, Xavier gently explaining to one of his brightest students what had happened.

Finally, Kitty spoke in a tiny voice. "Is what Jubilee says true? D-do I have the cure?"

Professor Xavier frowned, and patted Kitty's leg. "Bobby saw you get shot with one while you were down during the fight. So, for now, yes. The good news is that some mutants bodies are fighting off the cure, and their powers are returning. Don't lose hope."

Kitty was trembling now. She was nearing adulthood, she would be eighteen in five months. But she didn't want to go back to her parents, who had practically thrown her into Dr. Grey and Professor Xavier's arms when they realized they wouldn't have to deal with her powers themselves anymore.

"You won't have to leave Kitty." The Professor answered her fears before they could form sentences in her mouth. "You're still an X-Man, and you're strong. I have no doubt your powers will return in time."

Kitty nodded, numbly. Her powers were gone. Her escape mechanism, her protection from anything and everything, was completely gone. People could touch her now, and she could do nothing about it.

"You still have your senior year of classes to keep you occupied until your powers begin to resurface Kitty. Don't worry." Professor Xavier smiled kindly.

She nodded, and attempted to smile in return even though she knew the Professor could see into her mind, clear as day.

Her mind, without her permission, wandered to another subject, biting her sharply in the chest. Jubilee had said she'd been out for a week. "Has…has…Pyro shown up, Professor?"

She expected to be berated for "fraternizing with the enemy" or some such because of what had happened during the battle on Alcatraz. If it had been Storm reading her mind, she would have gotten an hour long lecture, if it had been Logan, he would have kicked her ass four times over. If it was Bobby…she didn't want to think about that.

But Professor wasn't any of those people. "He has not returned. But that doesn't mean he won't still." Xavier sighed. "Keep in mind Kitty, he won't have a warm reception from most when he arrives. I do still see the good in St. John, but most do not."

Kitty nodded mutely.

"Rest." Xavier added. "Storm will help you sign up for the classes you need tomorrow, as term starts next week. And if you need anything, you know you can always come to me." With that, Professor X spun his wheelchair around, and left the room.

Over the next few hours word spread around the school that Kitty was awake. Students, teachers, and X-Men came to see her. Bobby came to visit her, sitting and talking with her for hours, filling her in on every detail of the week she had missed, and trying to make her laugh. She did her best not to harbor any ill will towards him for knocking John out cold, and she succeeded. Kitty wasn't exactly the type to hold a grudge.

In the time between Pietro leaving and Jubilee coming back for a second visit, Kitty limped to the showers. She had to sit down twice under the hot spray of water, her body complaining and her legs turning to jelly. When she got out and wrapped herself in a fluffy beige towel, she noticed a folded pile on the sink. Clean clothes. Grateful, she slipped them on, taking her time and wincing whenever the cloth rubbed wrong on a cut or her muscles burned.

Dress in a pink shirt, dark wash jeans, and soft socks, Kitty left the bathroom, and made her way back to the bed, fully intending on having a nap. Jubilee however, had other ideas.

Her best friend perched herself on the end of Kitty's bed, and whispered dramatically, "I heard Rogue met someone."

Kitty snorted. "I'm sure she met lots of people, living with regular people for the time that she did."

"No! She met, _met_ someone. She's apparently completely done with Bobby." Jubilee raised her eyebrows as she shared the gossip.

A small streak of surprise went through her, but all she asked was, "Well what's his name?"

"Remy. Weird, right? Anyway, once you're all better and stuff, we should all go to the mall. There's this dress that I…" Kitty half-listened to Jubilee ramble on and on, knowing that the girl could talk for hours on end.

Before she knew it, Kitty slipped back into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Present Day**

Kitty slept through the late afternoon and past breakfast the next morning, only waking when Storm finally came to see her. "I'm sorry Professor." she mumbled, stifling a yawn, and pulled the covers off her. Someone had tucked her in during the night, probably Jubilee.

Storm gave her an easy smile and shrugged. "You're still recuperating, don't worry about it. We saved you some food from breakfast." she handed Kitty a warm plate, and the younger girl thanked her before stabbing some eggs.

Storm sat in front of Kitty, pulling over the chair from your desk. "Now, because you lost your powers for the time of being, your schedule is subject to change at any time, as soon as your powers return." She sent a reassuring smile towards Kitty. "Professor Xavier and I have the utmost faith that they will."

Kitty nodded, but secretly she didn't share the same confidence in herself that her two teachers did. She took a bite of bacon, realizing that talk of her now gone powers was making her appetite go away.

"Until then, you will not be able to participate in the Danger Room classes, although the rest of your senior year classes will be fully available to you. I see you chose to opt for eight classes instead of the normal six. Usually people decide to take it light during their last year...although I should have known with you."

_Seven classes._ Kitty thought miserably to herself. One of the eight had been a Danger Room class.

"Anyway, your schedule is Advanced Physics, Pre Calculus, and Senior English in the mornings, with TA for Chemistry, History of Mutants, Understanding DNA, and Dance in the afternoons."

Kitty nodded, glad that Storm was going over it with her. She had planned her schedule out perfectly at the end of last year, but that seemed like ages ago.

"Thank you Storm, I appreciate it." Kitty smiled, although it lacked her normal bubbliness. The white haired woman nodded, and stood, brushing a bit of Kitty's hair out of her eyes.

"Kitty. It'll be alright. I promise." Kitty nodded and Storm headed for the door.

As she pulled it open, Kitty asked, "When's Rog- Marie due back?"

Storm stopped in the doorway. "She should be back tomorrow."

Kitty smiled. "Thanks." Storm nodded, and left.

Kitty sat on her bed, crossing her legs, and closed her eyes. In the past few days she hadn't tried to phase at all. She didn't want to know how it'd feel to not be able to. Maybe if she didn't try, she could just pretend her powers weren't gone. But not being able to phase made even the most spacious rooms feel claustrophobic. She placed her plate of food aside on her bedside table.

Putting her hands on her bed to either side of her body, she pressed down, trying to phase, to force herself to sink through the solid matter. Nothing happened. She relaxed her body, leaning against the wall, trying one more time. Still nothing. Closing her eyes, she thought back as tears seeped down from closed lids.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**September, Sophomore Year**

"_New girl, what's your name?" Kitty jumped when she realized the boy was talking to her. He didn't look like he really cared to know. Wearing a worn out beige thermal and dark blue jeans, he stared at her with a mean look in his eyes. Kitty knew a bully when she saw one, she had lived with her older brother long enough. _

_Her new roommate, Jubilee pulled her into a seat. The fifteen year old girl was sweet, although she chattered non-stop and had strange teal streaks in her hair. No one from the little town in Illinois she had lived in had hair like that. _

"_Ignore him." Jubilee said to Kitty, then shot the boy a glare. "Fuck off, John. Go pick on someone else." Just as quickly, she turned to the people sitting across from them at the cafeteria table, and grinned. "Rogue, Bobby, how were your summers?" Rogue shrugged, looking uncomfortable. She always stayed at the Institute the entire year, along with many others who weren't welcome in their own homes any longer. Bobby and Jubilee on the other hand, went back to their homes. Jubilee's parents were supportive of her mutation, and Bobby's just didn't know. _

"_Mine was fine. My brother was trouble, but he always is." Bobby replied. He sent a side-long glance towards Rogue, and Kitty realized that the boy liked her. _

"_Oh! I'm so rude." Jubilee gasped. "Bobby, Rogue, Pietro." she nodded to each of them as a big muscled boy sat down at the table on the other side of Rogue. "This is Kitty Pryde, my new roommate." she introduced proudly. _

_Kitty blushed and mumbled 'hello's and 'nice to meet you' to everyone. Jubilee turned her attention to the muscled boy. "Pietro, you're a senior, are you excited to graduate?" She chattered at him for awhile, and Kitty picked at her food nervously. _

"_So," she looked up and saw that Bobby was looking at her intently. "I can't figure it out, so I suppose I'll just ask. What can you do?"_

"_What?" she asked, taken aback. She looked around to see a table of curious faces, all talk ceasing from her new friends. "Oh...uh. I can phase through things." She hadn't done it since Professor Xavier and Dr. Grey collected her from her house three days before. She nervously ran a hand through her hair._

"_What do you mean, phase?" Rogue asked, confusion on her face._

"_Um, well, I can move through matter...go through walls and such like." she shrugged. _

"_So you're like some creepy ghost chick?" Kitty jumped as the boy from earlier sat next to her, lunch tray in hand. Jubilee rolled her eyes, and Bobby turned to the other boy._

"_Don't be a dick, John." The boy, John, shrugged. _

"_So what'd you say your name was?"_

"_Kitty."_

"_Hmph. Sure as hell fits. Tiny and harmless and innocent. Just like a kitten."_

_Kitty glared, and brushed hair out of her eyes. "I'm not harmless."_

_John smirked. "Watch out guys, Kitten over here might walk through me. I'm terrified."_

"_It's Kitty."_

"_Mhm, whatever you say ghost girl."_

_He began to flick his lighter open and closed, and for a moment Kitty was worried. It was pretty obvious to her what his power was, the way the fire flicked up and down was unnatural. She turned to the others, determined to ignore him. "What can all of you do?"_

_Jubilee sighed, also ignoring John. "Nothing useful, at least not for now. Professor X says that my powers will continue to mutant and grow from what they are. She through a handful of colored sparks and what looked like fireworks into the air. "That's all for me." _

_Bobby grinned at her. "I'm opposite Mr. Pyro over here." He palmed the side of the lunch table and left a streak of ice following his fingers. _

_She turned to Pietro, and watched in amazement as the skin showing on his arms turned into shiny steel. He grinned, then shrugged and the metal disappeared, leaving regular skin. _

_Kitty turned expectantly towards Rogue. The girl had a strip of white hair that contrasted sharply with the dark brown. The people next to her got a bit tense, and Rogue didn't look happy. She tugged on black gloves that reached her elbows. _

"_I can suck people's powers away, and their energy by touching them." She raised gloved hands. "It can be a little...hard sometimes."_

_John snorted. "Can suck their life out of them too."_

_Rogue blushed a deep pink, and glared at the boy across from her. John grinned in satisfaction. _

_Jubilee turned to stare at John over Kitty's head. "What's got you into such a mood John? Get detention for lighting someone's curtains on fire again?" Kitty's eyes widened at the 'again' part._

_John shrugged, and flicked his lighter lazily. "If you don't like it, you can always leave."_

_Pietro rolled his eyes. "You're sitting at our table, Johnny."_

_John glared, it was obvious that the other boy struck a cord. "Don't call me that." He stopped flicking his lighter._

_Pietro stared at him, unblinking. "Then stop being unnecessarily rude." _

_Kitty watched, eyes flicking back and forth between the two, unsure what to do. John stood, Pietro did the same. John flicked open his lighter, glaring at the older boy. As he spun the wheel on it and it began to spark, she grabbed it from the boy and phased it through the table, leaving it halfway in and halfway stuck out._

_Jubilee burst out laughing as John whirled on the smaller girl, eyes blazing. "Give it back. Now."_

"_That's another thing about John." Bobby began, trying to hide a smile. "He needs the fire to start before he manipulates it. He can't create it himself."_

_John was looking at Kitty with such a loathing that she almost flinched. She straightened her back instead and stared at him._

"_I'm going to see what my classes for tomorrow are." Kitty said after a moment of silence. She smiled at Pietro, Rogue, and Bobby. "It was nice meeting you guys. I'll see you later Jubilee." She turned to leave, and John grabbed her wrist._

"_Not before you get my lighter out of that damned table, Kitten." he snarled out, eyes blazing. She tried to yank her arm away from his, but his grip was tight._

_Bobby stood up. "John, let her go." His tone was serious. Kitty had other ideas. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt with the other hand, and phased, pulling him until he was standing in the middle of the table. Then she left him, phasing back out so that she stood in front of it, hands on her hips. That left a fuming John Allerdyce stuck solid in the middle of the cafeteria table and floor. _

_Laughter erupted from several of the other tables and from theirs; Rogue looked like Christmas had come four months early. _

"_Now, a few things." Kitty folded her arms over her chest as she scowled at the boy. "My name is Kitty, and that is the only thing you will call me. Just because I'm new does not mean that I'll be the person you'll bully for the rest of term. Next time I will stick your entire body in a wall and leave you there." She wouldn't ever really do that, but she figured the threat would be enough. "And," her voice lowered dangerously. "Don't you ever grab me again."_

"_You can't leave me here stuck in this damned table!" John shouted. She glared at him once again._

"_Actually, Johnny, I can." She stomped out of the cafeteria, leaving Jubilee, John, Pietro, Rogue, and Bobby staring after her._

"_I like her." Bobby finally said with a grin._

**_OoOoOoOoO_**

**Present Day**

That had been her first day meeting all of them. Meeting him. Professor Xavier had made her come down to the cafeteria and retrieve John from the table, in which he had been stuck for three hours. But no matter how much John threatened, yelled, and raged, she refused to get his lighter out of the table. It had stayed flat and stuck in the surface of their table all year, and was the butt of many jokes made during meals.

Kitty opened her eyes and let herself slide sideways so that she was laying down on her bed. Where was John? He couldn't be dead. Professor X would have told her, she was sure. She had been out a week, so if he wasn't dead, why hadn't he come? Bobby's words to her the day they saw Pyro's face on a Wanted poster repeated in her mind.

"_He's one of them now Kitty. He's dead to us. He didn't even tell you, or me that he was leaving. He didn't care enough to tell us."_

But the way he had looked at her in the midst of the battle the week before, like he had never seen anything more comforting stuck in her mind. She missed John. Her Johnny Allerdyce. She started calling him that to mock him before they became friends, and she was the only one he allowed it from.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes, and rolled over to look out her window. Leaves were turning red and orange already. Fall was coming early. The John she knew, the honest, slightly arrogant, angry, protective, caring, sarcastic boy she knew didn't fit with the picture everyone painted of Pyro. Of a violent young man who didn't care who he killed, who liked killing, who set fires to hospitals and used the word 'homosapien' as if it were a race needing to be eradicated.

Could that really be all the same person?

**OoOoOoOoO**

His face wasn't on the TV screen, that was a plus at least. Yesterday they had listed the deaths, and the missing persons from the 'Mutant Battle', as the humans were calling it. He didn't see Magneto's name, or his name on there, although the report said that many bodies had fallen into the water around Alcatraz Island.

Turning away from the screen, he left money on the counter for the diner waitress, downed the rest of his coffee, and left, the door jangling loudly as he did so. Lifting the hood of his sweatshirt around his face, he looked around. Being in the town nearest to the Institute, he knew there was a chance he'd be recognized, so he hurried to the sleazy motel about three blocks down. It wasn't cold yet, and people looked at him oddly in his black pullover.

He got himself a room, and once he was in it, alone, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was still trying to decide if he really wanted to go back to the Institute. He desperately wanted to see Kitty, there was no doubt about that. He also knew that it wouldn't exactly be 'Welcome Home John!' when he arrived there.

No, he had been a member of the Brotherhood for the past six months, and he and his old best friend had tried to kill each other less than two weeks ago. He groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, and flicked open his lighter, watching the flame dance.

Really, he already made up his mind. He just had to get up and go, and he wanted to be fully prepared when he did.

Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. It was getting long, the blonde highlights Mystique had painstakingly streaked in growing out.

Three days. He would go in three days.


End file.
